Historic Type 64 'Porsche' fails to sell after auction snafu

Aug. 19 (UPI) -- A one-of-its-kind 1939 Porsche-badged sports car that was expected to sell for at least $20 million over the weekend flopped on the auction block after a series of miscommunications.

RM Sotheby's in Monterey, Calif., shut down the sale for the Type 64 sports car Saturday when it did not reach the minimum price required by the seller. The lot closed after a misinterpretation over the amounts of the bids. Bids of $13 million, $14 million and $17 million were erroneously listed as $30 million, $40 million and $70 million.

The auction ultimately ended without any bids meeting the minimum sale price.

"The car didn't meet reserve," RM Sotheby's said in a statement. "We will make every effort to sell the car post-sale."

"When they mentioned $30 million to start, I thought that's quite a strong starting price," David Lee, a Los Angeles car collector in the audience, told The New York Times. "The auctioneer had a British accent and didn't say the teens well. Is he really saying 30 or 13?"

RM Sotheby's acknowledged the repeated mistakes.

"As bidding opened on the Type 64, increments were mistakenly displayed on the screen, causing unfortunate confusion in the room," it said. "We take pride in conducting our world-class auctions with integrity and we take our responsibility to our clients very seriously."